[threEchelon]

Have you tried calling the police? I'm serious.

If that doesn't work out, the most isolating non-IEM phone is probably the HD280.

 

[MaloS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seminarian /img/forum/go_quote.gif How serious are you about dealing with this? I was plagued by this for years. I was surrounded by about a dozen dogs. They could ruin my life at any time of the day or night. I finally moved. Because of dogs. Here's my idea that might work. The plan is to get the neighbors to go crazy before you do. (There might be serious technical problems with this so some one might chime in here and say so). Build an electronic dog-whistle system that you play with your audio system through speakers out your open upstairs bedroom window at insane volumes for a long week when you are on vacation (or staying at a nearby motel). 24/7. Make sure they are hidden behind some kind of curtain or blinds. Play the sound at just above human hearing range. 20 kHz and up a bit.(Here's where the problem might come in. Your system/speakers has to be able to reproduce these high frequencies). Play it loud. The dogs will go crazy and bark non-stop (you might want to consider playing with possible intervals - whichever you think might make the owners go crazy faster) for a week or so. The owners will be forced to act. What do you think? Will this work?

T H A T I S I N G E N I O U S.

Someone did a backwards brutal version of that in Russia...his neighbors (downstairs) complained about his speakers computer speakers that he was using at decent volumes (no woofer). So he responded very simply, he borrowed a pair of floorstanding speakers from a friend, put them face down on the floor, made a CD of some fast trance, put it on, turned the volume up, and left for a week-long vacation...

Neighbors did not complain again. Ever.

 

[kramer5150]

My grandfather had some dogs next door. They weren't terribly noisy altohugh at times they would get in one of those moods. They used to piss and **** all over the wood fence. His back yard would smell like crap... truly disgusting in the hot summer Sacramento evenings.

He used to put 3-4 plastic milk bottle jugs full of pure amonia right next to the fence. The dogs didn't like the smell and they would choose to crap on the other side of the yard. I remember him commenting that they didn't bark as much too.

It boggles my mind how dog owners can live with all that ****.... splattered all over the yard.

 

[MaloS]

This forum is impressing me with its capacity for alternate solutions

 

[wnmnkh]

Serious advise : either call cop or do what Seminarian has said.

The headphones will not solve the problem.

 

[AudioDwebe]

I feel your pain!

There's been a some intersting suggestions posted, but I don't really see any of them working. As far as having the dogs go crazy and barking all night while you're gone elsewhere, the owners probably wouldn't even notice. Moving is great, too, until your new neighbors decide to breed Great Danes!

And I'm sure shooting them would feel REALLY great, but my guess is you'd end up Butt-Buddies with some smelly giant at the local jail.

Maybe you could try some sound absorption paneling in your upstairs bedroom. Possibly learn, if you can, to sleep with some music going at a moderately loud volume. How about checking with your local veteranarian, pet store, pet groomer, etcetera to see if they have suggestions for quieting down the neighbor's dogs.

I've had similar experiences with neighbors, dogs...and they all suck. I used to throw rocks at my neighbor's dogs. Them little bastards! You need to try and find a solution sooner rather than later because lack of sleep eventually equals sleep deprivation which equals true grumpiness which equals quick tempers rising which might equal jumping into the neighbor's yard and stabbing the miserable beasts with your fork or something.

Whatever you choose to do, the best of luck to you.

 

[cindyk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioDwebe /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to throw rocks at my neighbor's dogs. Them little bastards!

 

[AudioDwebe]

I'm sorry. Did I say "throw rocks"?

I meant calmly shushing them.

 

[ast]

in the same shoe, but not as bad as your situation.


You might want to look into some silent "bark stoppers", such as these Ultrasonic devices that can be heard by dogs but not by humans:

http://www.smarthome.com/61392.html


I don't have experience with them so not sure how effective they are though.

 

[adanac061]

Put a hd650 on a stick between you and the dogs at night....
.....

.....you wont be able to hear their bark through the veil..Ha Ha

 

[Warpoet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threEchelon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you tried calling the police? I'm serious.

Nah - that'd just make the situation worse. The cops don't want to deal with barking dogs, partially because they have bigger fish to fry (understandable) and also because in places like this, the cops are rednecks just like the owners are. My parents had to wear earplugs in their first house because some stupid cop left his dog out unattended 24/7.

The laws are designed to be unenforceable, so the chances of getting the cops involved are slim. There is a covenant in this development, but no committee to enforce it yet. Even then, the only headway I'd make would be with them shutting the damn things up in the morning on the weekends. They keep them inside on the weekdays and they're inside after 10 o'clock, which for them constitutes a lot of work. It doesn't for me, but the rules are designed to give people who own yappers the advantage over people who want quiet, not vice versa. They could make things a lot worse if they wanted to.

To answer Seminarian: I'm serious about peace and quiet, but since our house is the only lot close enough to the dogs to be woken up by them, I don't see it working. The whole family rarely leaves for any extended period of time, but if we ever do go away for a while, I'll keep that idea in mind - it might be worth a shot.

The owners are being careful not to make the problem serious enough to have constant confrontation over it, since confrontation is usually reserved for when things go into the extreme, but they don't care that their dogs are still a pain in the ass. I equate barking dogs to someone honking their horn, and for that to happen off and on every day at unknown intervals, especially when I'm hearing it even more than THEY are, is hell.

The best solution is really just to find a good set of headphones that I can wear whenever they let the dogs outside, that way I can listen to music or something until they let them back in rather than have to go downstairs just to escape the noise. If closed headphones are the solution, so be it.

People are saying that headphones won't solve the problem - which I suppose is true, since the barking shouldn't be happening to begin with - but my hands are tied on this one. If I can get a good set that will keep me from popping a blood vessel because of the damn things, then I'll at least survive until I move. So will the DT770 do the trick? The HD 280? Or do some of you think that these won't block (or at least seriously dampen, with music) the sound of irritating dogs?

 

[Meloncoly]

For a cheap solution, a HD280 will do fine. The HD280s average about $80USD and they're comfortable and isolate sound pretty well. Although without music, you can hear muffled barking, it isn't loud barking...maybe barking from a block away? With music on at a moderate level, I don't hear the dog anymore. And since it's a cheap solution, if it doesn't work, then at least you still have money left for other methods...guns perhaps? ^_^

 

[stereophile]

Turn this soundmasker way up; and no one will hear anything when the dogs disappear...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=228514

I keep a 5 minute shot on my mp3 player & turn this up on my through the TL in SF down to the Folsom clubs -- it masks sound of the crackheads arguing in the streets pretty well. (sorry -- inside ref to the BayArea heads on here).

But seriously, like I posted on the above thread -- I have a lot of noise problems at my current home. I searched and searched, and found this White/Pink noise software called soundmasker. Actually, it way more "colors" -- whate they call Blue, Violet, Brown, and more masking noises. I love it. The software is only $29, and it allows you to custom create, mix colors, tweak, & record your own unique masking sounds. I really like it -- I use it almost every evening now. Great for focusing, calming, studying, sleeping, privacy, a lot of different things. I have some Brown noise pumping out of my speakers right now -- so nice...like I'm floating in a river...and I can't hear a thing outside.

 

[1911]

hmm..i have a neighbor whose dog was getting out and pooping on my well manicured lawn that i pay a fortune to upkeep..so i taught the dog a primal lesson in pain so it would associate my lawn with death..see if that works..





ps i am kidding...the neighbor actually is not a jerk...but yeah other people's pooches can piss one off just like other people's kids...serenity now

 

[stereophile]

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